Editorial Reviews

Verve's Jazz for Kids: Sing, Clap, Wiggle and Shake is a wonderful collection of kid-friendly novelty tunes by some of the biggest names in jazz. Fun, funny, and breezy, the collection will have both kids and parents dancing as well as singing, clapping, wiggling, and shaking. Helping the party along are wild tracks by Ella Fitzgerald (the swinging nursery rhymes "Old MacDonald" and "The Muffin Man"), Louis Jordan ("Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens"), the so-childlike-they-included-him-twice Slim Gaillard ("Chicken Rhythm" and "Potato Chips"), and Lionel Hampton ("Rag Mop"). There are a few easygoing tunes to keep things from getting too wild, such as Blossom Dearie's "Doop-Doop-De-Doop (A Doodlin' Song)" and Carmen McRae's lovely "When the Red, Red Robin Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin' Along." The only song that seems out of place is Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World," as it injects a serious air that is missing elsewhere. Still, this is a CD that any parents who want to add some variety to their kid's diet of Bob the Builder and Jay Jay the Jet Plane songs should pick up. You'll probably find yourself listening to it when the kid isn't around. [Five years after its original release, Jazz for Kids was reissued by Universal with the same tracklisting but a different cover.] Tim Sendra, All Music Guide

Customer Reviews

• Listener Rating:
• Ratings: 3Reviews: 2